2013-04-29

Bloom time: Tritelia laxa (Ithuriel's Spear)

A patio pot winner for the second year in a row at the San Pedro Annex, Tritelia laxa (Ithuriel's Spear).

This web page has a nice write up which reads in part: Triteleia laxa is the latin name for Ithuriel's Spear (formerly Brodaeia laxa). It is a bulb, actually a corm closely related to lilies and onions which blooms in June then goes dormant, requiring a summer dry rest, although it is less picky about that than our other native grassland bulbs. They can be grown in full sun or fairly deep shade. The corms are no more than an inch across and are very delicious to eat raw or cooked, they taste much like a potato. Ithuriel's Spear is an easy plant to grow but is relatively unknown in the nursery trade. Triteleia laxa is beautiful, useful, adaptable and worthy of wider use.